Page 66 of Once Upon A Royal Christmas
“Who?”
Alana pressed a fingertip to her lips—the universal sign to speak in a hushed tone. “Gumdrop,” she whispered.
Then she opened the door to her room to reveal a tiny black and white ball of fluff with a red bow tied to its collar.
Gracie gasped. “Hey, I know that puppy.”
“You do?” Alana scooped the dog into her arms just as it tried to scramble out the door. She clicked it shut behind her.
“I saw this little sweetie at the animal shelter the other day.” Gracie ran a hand over the dog’s soft head. “She waved at Nick.”
Alana gave her a funny look.
Gracie shrugged. “She had some help. Can I hold her?”
“Of course. The poor thing has been trapped inside this room for days. I’m sure she’d love to make new friends. I adopted her the other day as a gift for my father for Christmas.”
Her father… King of Vernina.
“That’s so sweet,” Gracie said.
“He lost his beloved dog a while back, and I want to surprise him. It’s not easy hiding a puppy, though. I’ve been cancelling events all week so I can keep an eye on her. Sometimes I’ve even resorted to carrying her around in a puppy purse.”
All the run-ins Gracie had been having with Alana suddenly made a lot more sense. “You were hiding her in your bag yesterday when Ingrid and Max were outside wrapping the front door, weren’t you?”
“I was.” She nodded. “I’m so sorry if I’ve seemed rude this week. I just really want my dad to be surprised. I’m thinking of giving Gumdrop to him at the Advent Night Party. I already confessed and told Ingrid about the dog, and she thinks it’s a good idea. I just have to figure out how to keep her hidden until then.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that.” Gracie rocked the puppy in her arms. She had a round little belly, puppy breath, and the tiniest ears Gracie had ever seen on a dog. The whole puppy package. She couldn’t believe the shelter was having trouble finding funding to support dogs like this.
She also never would have guessed Alana was hiding a puppy…though given the way Nick had kept Mittens from the press, maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised. Appearances could be so tricky. Everyone had their own private story—their own struggles. Even royalty.
“Clara and I would love to help take care of Gumdrop,” Gracie said.
Alana’s eyes lit up. “Are you sure?”
“Definitely. We princesses have to stick together.”
Clara tore her gaze away from her phone and gaped at the puppy when Gracie snuck into their room. “Did you and Nick adopt a dog together?”
“What? No. We’re not a couple, remember?”
“Right. You keep saying that, but there are pictures of you all over Instagram holding hands with him at the caroling tonight.” She thrust the phone at Gracie. “Wanna see?”
“No, I actually don’t.” Seeing their pretend romance play out on social media was getting more confusing by the day. Gracie couldn’t quite tell where the pretending ended and the truth began. “I’m a party princess from America. Nick is going to be an actual king someday. Why would we be adopting a dog together?”
“For the same reason you were holding hands.” Clara twirled a lock of her hair. “I knew you liked him.”
“I’m just visiting, remember? My real life couldn’t be further from this fantasy world.”
“Maybe you should forget about your real life for now. It’s Christmas…the perfect time to have a little fun while it lasts,” Clara said.
The puppy craned its neck to lick Gracie’s cheek as she turned Clara’s words over in her mind.
“I know you’re in the middle of a romantic crisis right now, but please tell me what that dog in your arms has to do with any of this. I’m dying over here.”
Gracie couldn’t help but laugh. “This is Gumdrop. Alana adopted her from the animal shelter I told you about. She’s a surprise for King Hans for Christmas. I sort of told Alana we’d help her keep the puppy under wraps.”
Clara tossed her phone onto her bed and held her arms out toward the dog. “Come here, you little monster. Come to Auntie Clara.”
